In a letter to Wesley Clark, host of Stars Earn Stripes and former Democratic presidential candidate, the nine called the show "a massive disservice to those who live and die in armed conflict and suffer its consequences long after the guns of war fall silent."

The letter continued—

Trying to somehow sanitize war by likening it to an athletic competition further calls into question the morality and ethics of linking the military anywhere with the entertainment industry in barely veiled efforts to make war and its multitudinous costs more palatable to the public ... NBC is working with the military to attempt to turn deadly military training into a sanitized "reality" TV show that reveals absolutely nothing of the reality of being a soldier in war or the consequences of war.

And Stars Earn Stripes isn't doing much to deny that it's military propaganda. At the TV Critics Association summer press tour, former Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson said, "If recruitment is improved by an amazing show like this, then we're all the better for it."

Just remember, in real life, enlisting does not guarantee hanging out with all your favorite D-listers.